FOOTBALL GOSSIP
Scotland assistant manager Mark McGhee describes Robert Snodgrass, who scored a hat-trick in Sunday’s 5-1 win over Malta, as the midfielder who can do it all. “He can come short as a midfield player, work back defensively, run ahead of the centre forward, take people on and run wide,” said McGhee. (Various)
Allan Preston, who gave Snodgrass his Livingston debut four days after his 17th birthday, says the player “was a great kid and a brilliant team-mate” but claims his lifestyle was affecting his developing career. “He was turning up late to training and sometimes even intoxicated,” says his former boss.
Barry Bannan says hearing Strachan name him in the team “was a bonus”. Bannan made his debut in 2010 and the match in Malta was his first full 90 minutes for Scotland since then. (Daily Mail)
McGhee’s former colleague in the Scotland set-up, Stuart McCall, thinks Scotland fans should want England to win every match against the Scots’ Group F rivals since he believes Sam Allardyce’s men are likely to top the group and Scotland will be vying with Slovakia, Slovenia and Lithuania for second place – and a play-off. (Sun)
Manager Gordon Strachan admits that when Malta equalised against Scotland it reminded him of how it felt to be in charge of the Celtic team that lost to Clyde in the Scottish Cup in 2006. (Various)
Scotland captain Darren Fletcher feels that the continuity of having Strachan as manager again for the World Cup qualifying campaign was felt at half-time when, with the score at 1-1, he knew how to get the best out of individual players in the second half in Malta. (Various)
Strachan urges people to give £13m Red Bull Leipzig winger Oliver Burke, 19, time to develop, arguing that top players need only do “three or four great things in a game”, whereas younger players like Burke try to do something special every time they touch the ball. (Scotsman)
Fulham striker Chris Martin plans to keep hold of the main Scotland striker’s jersey, saying he just has to “put in the performances” to stay ahead of Leigh Griffiths, Steven Fletcher and Tony Watt. (Daily Express)
Martin says he is “not sure” if he was fouled and that “your guess is as good as mine” as to the reason why the referee gave him a penalty against Malta. (National)
Celtic and Rangers are lobbying for their colts teams to play in League Two in the Scottish Professional Football League. (Sun)
Former Rangers winger Willie Henderson thinks Saturday’s Old Firm match “will tell us whether or not Rangers have been shy with the money”. Henderson, 72, thinks Rangers boss Mark Warburton won’t spend too long at Ibrox if he feels his reputation is tarnished by a lack of investment in the team. (Times, Daily Record)
Alex McLeish recalls taking his Rangers team to Celtic Park for the first time. “I was so excited and so thrilled to see the Celtic fans there giving us a hot reception,” he says. (Herald)
Rangers’ new centre-half Philippe Senderos considers his international career with Switzerland merely to be “on hold” and that it would be a “huge honour” if he was called upon to add to his 57 caps. (Daily Record)
Midfielder James Morrison would consider a move to Celtic in the January transfer window if he is not getting a regular game at West Brom. (Various)
Scotland Under-21s boss Ricky Sbragia feels his team haven’t enjoyed much luck in their failed European Championship qualification campaign. He promises some changes to the side that lost 1-0 to Macedonia at Tynecastle on Friday for Tuesday afternoon’s match against Ukraine in Kiev. (Various)
Former Motherwell manager Craig Brown helped to convince Dundee boss Paul Hartley to sign ex-Well player Tom Hateley. (Various)
Polish right-back Filip Modelski, 23, will play for Hibernian’s Under-20s on Tuesday afternoon to try to win a move to Easter Road after being on trial at the club for a week. (Sun)
Farid El Alagui has signed for Dunfermline until January after his release from Hibernian. (National)
Former Rangers and Dundee midfielder Gavin Rae is the new coach at Australian second-tier club Hakoah. Rae emigrated to Australia two years ago. (Sun)
Scotland Under-21s defender Jordan McGhee is enjoying the experience of “training and playing with top players” on his season-long loan at Middlesbrough from Hearts. Although he’s playing in Boro’s Under-23 team, he feels his career is progressing because he is playing in his favoured centre-back position and faces good opponents. (Various)
Slovenia manager Srecko Katanec believes World Cup Group F rivals Scotland and England will be delighted to match the point his team earned in their 2-2 qualifying draw away to Lithuania. (Sun)
OTHER GOSSIP
Lock Viliame Mata has joined Edinburgh on a two-year deal after winning an Olympic gold medal with Fiji’s sevens team. (Various)
On the eve of his 28th birthday, Kevin Bryce is looking forward to playing at tighthead prop for Edinburgh, having switched from flanker to hooker aged 21, and then from hooker to tighthead after a comment made by Scotland coach Vern Cotter. (Times)
